19th April-
Sacsauwaman- this huge Inca site is perched on the top of the hill, overlooking Cusco (or Qusqo, as it is known in the native language Quechua - pronounced 'Cosco'). The temple complex became strategically important when Manco led the Inca rebellion against the Spanish. They came within a whisker of defeating the Spanish, but Almagra led a relief column, and the Incas went into permanent retreat. Juan Pizarro was killed here in battle. It is a very impressive site, and dwarfs the Christo Blanco ( white Christ) statue on the neighbouring mountain, also overlooking the city.
Next stop was Qenco (sadly no coffee on offer), but lots of pre-Inca and Inca origin stones, and a curved area with areas to display idols or mummies. There was also a cave with a solid alter carved from the rock, which remains permanently cold to the touch. Along with various other flat carved areas. This cave appears to have been used in the mummification process of influential Inca leaders & dignitaries. As I've previously said, Inca mummies were brought out for special occasions, so I guess they had to make a good job of it. There was a group of Spanish speaking ladies who spent a lot of time with their hands on the alter, and threw offerings of coca leaves & coins behind it. Outside they then started weeping and wailing, in a big circle….very bizarre! I think they'd been on more than the coca tea. Our guide, Gladys, looked a bit bemused too, so I doubt it's a normal practice here.
Next we headed to San Pedro market. The biggest & oldest in Cusco, which started in 1925. Wancha market is another in our district, but much smaller. There were stalls of every description here & the market was split into sections, fruit, bread, cheeses, meat, dried meat jerky ( beef & alpaca) vegetables, sweets, fish & fish roe, fresh milk, flowers, textiles and more types of grains & pulses than I ever knew existed. There were also rows of potatoes in various colours from yellow, to deep purple & everything in between. I enjoyed walking around, but then we were ushered outside to see a lady with a large plastic container with a tea towel over. She pulled it back to reveal, de-furred, and disemboweled guinea pigs…..😱 yep, it was as horrific as it sounds. They looked like my childhood pets, teeth & all. Apparently it is a real delicacy, the locals call quoi ('coo-ee'), due to the sound they make. There was even a market stall for freshly cut greens to feed your guinea pigs, and Gladys our guide informed us that most houses outside of the city centre keep up to 15 guinea pigs at a time for food. I always try to taste the local delicacies when travelling, but I think this one might be a step too far for me.
Next we went to the Cathedral of the Virgin of the Assumption. No photography was allowed, which was a pity as the mix of gothic, baroque & renaissance styles were stunning. The cathedral was built on the site of Quishuarcancha, the ancient palace of the Inca Viracocha. Incas built their palaces and were later buried within them. A lot of important Inca sites were destroyed, often only partially, by the Spanish, yet the huge collection of artworks at the Cathedral give a nod to its Inca past & native people. Some of the original stones & Inca walls remain & even the huge painting of Jesus's last supper shows the disciples feasting on local produce and a roasted guinea pig!
Incas worshipped the rainbow & Cusco adopted the flag as theirs. It has a symbol of the sun in the middle to differentiate from the LGBTQ flag. Qusqo means "centre" as this was the centre of the Inca empire, that stretched across South America, including Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile and part of Argentina.
The area of the city is called Sapi - which means root. Water was worshipped as being the root of life. In Inca times there was a stream here. The remnants of which is still under the street. This ancient area if viewed from above, has streets shaped like a puma- which was a significant animal to the Incas. It is mind-blowing how they created the things that they did- before the days of ariel photography, machines or even the wheel!
North of city and onto Quroicancha; an Inca site almost opposite our hotel on Ave of the Sun. Although the Spanish again imposed another church - this time San Domingo - full Inca temple remains as well as remaining walls have been found and in part, reconstructed. An earthquake in the 1950s proved that when everything else crumbled and fell, the Inca method of wall construction was quake proof and thus a new era of interest and scholarly research was born. The most sacred Inca site in their whole empire was the Temple of the Sun in Cusco - with its walls clad in solid gold - and this was revealed by the quake as a concealed buttress support for the Spanish. Unfortunately the golden walls - as with the solid gold human figures and llamas from the sacred garden are long gone (taken by the Spanish as part of Atahualpa ransom and melted down into ingots and sent back to Spain) but it doesn't take a lot of imagination to feel that this place was of major spiritual significance long before the Pizarro's arrived.
We snuck into a little local restaurant, hidden in a courtyard & ordered chicharones & lamb. What we got was a huge bowl of rice soup each, big dishes of chilli's, lime & a green sauce that we had no clue of it's origin. Followed by two huge meals- one massive & beautifully seasoned leg of lamb, with roast potato & enough pan fried noodles with vegetables to feed a street. The other dish was piled high with fried belly pork, in wedges as big as your grans doorstep, complete with white corn, roast potatoes and red onions. Two old fellas started playing music whilst a woman with a baby on her back in a brightly coloured blanket sang. Then a local birthday party came in. Followed by kids coming home from school, who were obviously family of the restaurant. They changed out of their uniform & tucked into ice cream. It was great.
We ate as much as we could, but in truth,the lamb could have fed a family by itself. Even Graeme was beaten.
After a shower & change, we headed out to a traditional show of music & dancing. We expected tables, with drinks & a caberet set up. In actual fact, it was a theatre, with velvet cinema seats and heavy curtains. The band was fab (Graeme got excited when they struck up El Condor Pasa) and the traditional singing sounded almost Japanese. We enjoyed it though, and the local costumes. We then wandered into town & found a little bar with friendly staff and a great cocktail list. " Is it happy hour ", we asked? It is now….!
Salut!
Night night,
Caroline
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